All-day Technical Seminar organised with AFTPVA(N)

Sustainable additives play a crucial role in helping coatings and paint manufacturers meet their environmental objectives. MÜNZING offers a comprehensive portfolio of green products —including thickeners, dispersing agents, wetting agents, defoamers, and waxes— designed to support eco-friendly formulations.
The MÜNZING’s development strategy is guided by two key sustainability parameters:
– Renewable Content, determined by ASTM D 6866, which reduces reliance on fossil resources and lowers the carbon footprint.
 – Micro plastic free and Biodegradability, assessed according to OECD guidelines, addressing environmental concerns such as micro plastic pollution.
 A core focus of this approach is to ensure that sustainable additives deliver performance equal to or better than conventional alternatives. This presentation outlines MÜNZING’s pathways toward greener additive technologies and showcases performance data from sustainable products in coatings and paints.

From anti-graffiti applications to sports field marking, this presentation highlights the versatility and performance of bio-based polysaccharide resins in today’s coating technologies. Beyond their broad application potential, these innovative resins already make a measurable contribution to reducing VOC emissions, offering a sustainable and future ready alternative for the coatings industry.

ASTRAD is a portfolio of water-based, solvent-borne and UV pigmented dispersions for a broad range of applications including architectural, automotive and industrial coatings. The development of colored dispersions is not only dealing with coloristic properties, but is also related to compatibility with various paint systems depending on the final application. Moreover, storage stability in terms of settling behavior and viscosity profile is crucial for the overall performance of the dispersion. The presentation will give a special focus on how to achieve those performance goals within a limited period by using established technologies under certain conditions. This approach is further supported by a software solution serving as platform in the lab to accelerate R&D workflows and make design of experiments more efficient.

The evolution of environmental regulations and increasingly rapid market changes are forcing industries to accelerate the research and development of new products and formulations. The search for formulations adapted to new environmental standards or the creation of new products incorporating key innovations such as active ingredient encapsulation or the presence of nanoparticles with precise size control represent increasingly complex challenges that require new technologies like microfluidics, process intensification, or high-throughput screening to accelerate their development.

These emerging technologies are highly promising, but it is not always obvious where to start and especially how to test them quickly while limiting risks and minimizing investments. During this presentation, we will explain how these technologies can accelerate R&D projects and help companies rethink their production processes. We will also, through case studies, explain how a lean approach combined with digital technologies enables testing new ideas as quickly as possible to focus maximum resources on the most promising ones.

In an era where paint and coatings manufacturers face increasingly complex challenges, shortened product lifecycles, and resource constraints, Clariant and Prayon, its distribution partner in France and Benelux, are pleased to present Clariant’s wetting and dispersing agents and Digital Formulation Factory, demonstrating how this powerful combination can synergistically accelerate coating development while enhancing performance and sustainability.
The first segment highlights Clariant’s comprehensive portfolio of surfactant-based and polymeric dispersing agents, including our flagship Dispersogen and Emulsogen product lines. We’ll examine how these solutions deliver measurable benefits across diverse applications, from architectural coatings to industrial finishes and printing inks. Key innovations such as Dispersogen Flex 100, which enables noticeable reduction of grinding time and energy consumption, Dispersogen SP range for biocide-free indoor paints, and Dispersogen PLF 200, that provides long-term stability and sagging resistance to water-based industrial coatings, demonstrate our commitment to performance and sustainability. The presentation will detail how these additives improve dispersion stability, enhance processing efficiency, and deliver superior end-product performance while meeting stringent eco-label requirements.

The second segment introduces Clariant’s Digital Formulation Factory. Our high throughput experimentation platform addresses key pain points in the coatings sector, including resource-intensive development processes, long testing timelines, and the need for rapid responses to market demands. The presentation will highlight how the DFF is particularly beneficial for waterborne paint producers, mid-sized companies, and those interested in wetting and dispersing agent screening and benchmarking. Additionally, we will showcase how the DFF supports customers in addressing regulatory pressures, improving carbon footprints, and indicating cost reduction possibilities in formulations. Finally, we will focus on use cases illustrating DFF’s capabilities and benefits in terms of formulation improvement and resource optimization.
By integrating high-performance dispersing agents with intelligent digital solutions, paint formulators are empowered to overcome technical challenges more efficiently while developing coatings that meet evolving market demands for performance, sustainability, and regulatory compliance.

The shift from conventional solvent-borne protective epoxy coatings to waterborne technologies aims to reduce VOC emissions, comply with regulatory standards and meet the growing demand for environmentally friendly and less hazardous products. This presentation discusses Westlake Epoxy’s latest developments in waterborne, in both epoxy and amine technology, enabling the formulation of high-performing, ultra-low VOC protective paints that enhances final coating performance while maintaining ease of application. One of these new products, the Enabling Curing Agent, defines the next level of performance and robustness, especially on corrosion protection for smooth steel. It allows to reduce formulation complexity and cost while facilitating handling and improving paint stability.